AL-ALBANI
A Concise Guide
to the Chief Innovator of Our Time
Nasir al-Albani is
the arch-innovator of the Wahhabis and "Salafis" in our
time. A watch repairman by trade, al-Albani is a self-taught claimant
to hadith scholarship who has no known teacher in any of the Islamic
sciences and has admitted not to have memorized the Book of Allah nor
any book of hadith, fiqh, `aqîda,
usûl,
or grammar. He achieved fame by attacking the great
scholars of Ahl
al-Sunna and
reviling the science of fiqh with especial malice towards the school
of his father who was a Hanafi jurist.
A rabid reviler of
the Friends of Allah and the Sufis, he was expelled from Syria then
Saudi Arabia and lived in Amman, Jordan under house arrest until his
death in 1999. He remains the qibla of the people of Innovation,
self-styled re-formers of Islam, and other "Salafi" and
Wahhabi sympathizers, and the preferred author of book merchants and
many uneducated Muslims. Most of the contemporary Sunni scholars
warned of his heresy and many of them wrote articles or full-length
works against him such as:
- The Indian hadith
scholar Habib al-Rahman al-A`zami who wrote al-Albani
Shudhudhuh wa Akhta'uh
("Al-Albani's Aberrations and Errors") in four volumes.
- The Syrian scholar
Muhammad Sa`id Ramadan al-Buti who wrote the two classics
al-Lamadhhabiyya
Akhtaru Bid`atin Tuhaddidu al-Shari`a al-Islamiyya
("Not Following A School of Jurisprudence is the Most Dangerous
Innovation Threatening Islamic Sacred Law") and al-Salafiyya
Marhalatun Zamaniyyatun Mubaraka La Madhhabun Islami
("The `Way of the Early Muslims' Was A Blessed Historical Epoch,
Not An Islamic School of Thought")
- The Moroccan
hadith scholar `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari who
wrote Irgham
al-Mubtadi` al-Ghabi bi Jawaz al-Tawassul bi al-Nabi fi al-Radd `ala
al-Albani al-Wabi
("The Coercion of the Unintelligent Innovator with the Licitness
of Using the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - as an Intermediary
in Refutation of al-Albani the Baneful"), al-Qawl
al-Muqni` fi al-Radd `ala al-Albani al-Mubtadi`
("The Persuasive Discourse in Refutation of al-Albani the
Innovator"), and Itqan
al-Sun`a fi Tahqiq Ma`na al-Bid`a
("Precise Handiwork in Ascertaining the Meaning of Innovation").
- The Moroccan
hadith scholar `Abd al-`Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari
who wrote Bayan
Nakth al-Nakith al-Mu`tadi
("The Exposition of the Treachery of the Rebel").
- The Syrian hadith
scholar `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda who wrote Radd
`ala Abatil wa Iftira'at Nasir al-Albani wa Sahibihi Sabiqan Zuhayr
al-Shawish wa Mu'azirihima
("Refutation of the Falsehoods and Fabrications of Nasir
al-Albani and his Former Friend Zuhayr al-Shawish and their
Supporters").
- The Egyptian
Hadith scholar Muhammad `Awwama who wrote Adab
al-Ikhtilaf
("The Proper Manners of Expressing Difference of Opinion").
- The Egyptian
hadith scholar Mahmud Sa`id Mamduh who wrote Wusul
al-Tahani bi Ithbat Sunniyyat al-Subha wa al-Radd `ala al-Albani
("The Alighting of Mutual Benefit
and Confirmation that the Dhikr-Beads are a Sunna in Refutation of
al-Albani") and Tanbih
al-Muslim ila Ta`addi al-Albani `ala Sahih Muslim
("Warning to the Muslim Concerning al-Albani's Attack on Sahih
Muslim").
- The Saudi hadith
scholar Isma`il ibn Muhammad al-Ansar who wrote Ta`aqqubat
`ala "Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da`ifa wa al-Mawdu`a" li
al-Albani
("Critique of al-Albani's Book on Weak and Forged Hadiths"),
Tashih
Salat al-Tarawih `Ishrina Rak`atan wa al-Radd `ala al-Albani fi
Tad`ifih
("Establishing as Correct the Tarawih Salat in Twenty Rak`as and
the Refutation of Its Weakening by al-Albani"), and Ibahat
al-Tahalli bi al-Dhahab al-Muhallaq li al-Nisa' wa al-Radd `ala
al-Albani fi Tahrimih
("The Licitness of Wearing Gold Jewelry for Women
Contrary to al-Albani's Prohibition of it").
- The Syrian scholar
Badr al-Din Hasan Diab who wrote Anwar
al-Masabih `ala Zulumat al-Albani fi Salat al-Tarawih
("Illuminating the Darkness of al-Albani over the Tarawih
Prayer").
- The Director of
Religious Endowments in Dubai,
`Isa ibn `Abd Allah ibn Mani` al-Himyari who wrote al-I`lam
bi Istihbab Shadd al-Rihal li Ziyarati Qabri Khayr al-Anam
- Allah bless and greet him - ("The Notification Concerning the
Recommendation of Travelling to Visit the Grave of the Best of
Creation - Allah bless and greet him -) and al-Bid`a
al-Hasana Aslun Min Usul al-Tashri`
("The Excellent Innovation Is One of the Sources of Islamic
Legislation").
- The Minister of
Islamic Affairs and Religious Endowments in the United Arab Emirates
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khazraji who wrote the article
al-Albani:
Tatarrufatuh
("Al-Albani's Extremist Positions").
- The Syrian scholar
Firas Muhammad Walid Ways in his edition of Ibn al-Mulaqqin's
Sunniyyat
al-Jumu`a al-Qabliyya
("The Sunna Prayers That Must Precede Salat al-Jumu`a").
- The Syrian scholar
Samer Islambuli who wrote al-Ahad,
al-Ijma`, al-Naskh.
- The Jordanian
scholar As`ad Salim Tayyim who wrote Bayan
Awham al-Albani fi Tahqiqihi li Kitab Fadl al-Salat `ala al-Nabi
- Allah bless and greet him -.
- The Jordanian
scholar Hasan `Ali al-Saqqaf who wrote the two-volume Tanaqudat
al-Albani al-Wadiha fi ma Waqa`a fi Tashih al-Ahadith wa Tad`ifiha
min Akhta' wa Ghaltat
("Albani's Patent Self-Contradictions in the Mistakes and
Blunders He Committed While Declaring Hadiths to be Sound or Weak"),
Ihtijaj
al-Kha'ib bi `Ibarat man Idda`a al-Ijma` fa Huwa Kadhib
("The Loser's Recourse to the Phrase: `Whoever Claims Consensus
Is a Liar!'"), al-Qawl
al-Thabtu fi Siyami Yawm al-Sabt
("The Firm Discourse Concerning Fasting on Saturdays"),
al-Lajif
al-Dhu`af li al-Mutala`ib bi Ahkam al-I`tikaf
("The Lethal Strike Against Him Who Toys with the Rulings of
I`tikaf), Sahih
Sifat Salat al-Nabi Sallallahu `alayhi wa Sallam
("The Correct Description of the Prophet's Prayer - Allah bless
and greet him -"),
I`lam al-Kha'id bi Tahrim al-Qur'an `ala al-Junub wa al-Ha'id
("The Appraisal of the Meddler in the Interdiction of the Qur'an
to those in a State of Major Defilement and Menstruating Women"),
Talqih
al-Fuhum al-`Aliya
("The Inculcation of Lofty Discernment"), and Sahih
Sharh al-`Aqida al-Tahawiyya
("The Correct Explanation of al-Tahawi's Statement of Islamic
Doctrine").
Among Albani's
innovations in the Religion:
1- In his book Adab
al-Zafaf
he prohibits women from wearing gold jewelry - rings, bracelets, and
chains - despite the Consensus of the Ulema permitting it.
2- He claims that
2.5% zakât is not due on money obtained from commerce, i.e. the main
activity whereby money circulates among Muslims.
3- He absolutely
prohibits fasting on Saturdays.
4- He prohibits
retreat (i`tikaf)
in any but the Three Mosques.
5- He claims that it
is lawful to eat in Ramadan before Maghrib as defined by the Law, and
similarly after the true dawn.
6- He compares
Hanafi fiqh to the Gospel.1
7- He calls people
to imitate him rather than the Imams of the Salaf such as the
founders of the Four Schools, and his followers invalidate the
hadiths that contradict his views.
8- He prohibits the
make-up performance of prayers missed intentionally.
9- He claims that it
is permissible for menstruating women and those in a state of major
defilement (junub)
to recite, touch, and carry the Qur'an.
10- He claims over
and over that among the innovations in religion existent in Madina is
the persistence of the Prophet's - Allah bless and greet him - grave
in the mosque.
11- He claims that
whoever travels intending to visit the Prophet - Allah bless and
greet him - or to ask him for his intercession is a misguided
innovator.
12- He claims that
whoever carries dhikr-beads in his hand to remember Allah Most High
is misguided and innovating.
13- He invented a
location to Allah Most High above the Throne which he named al-makân
al-`adamî
- "the non-existent place."
14- He claims in
Tamam
al-Minna
that masturbation does not annul one's fast.
15- He published
"corrected" editions of the two Sahihs of al-Bukhari and
Muslim, which he deceitfully called "Abridgments"
(mukhtasar)
in violation of the integrity of these motherbooks.
16- He published
newly-styled editions of the Four Sunan, al-Bukhari's al-Adab
al-Mufrad,
al-Mundhiri's al-Targhib
wa al-Tarhib,
and al-Suyuti's al-Jami`
al-Saghir,
each of which he split into two works, respectively prefixed Sahih
and Da`if
in violation of the integrity of these motherbooks.
17- He said: "Many
of those who interpret figuratively [the Divine Attributes] are not
heretics (zanâdiqa),
but they say what heretics say," and "figurative
interpretation is the very same as nullification (al-ta'wîl
`ayn al-ta`tîl)."2
18- He suggests that
al-Bukhari is a disbeliever for interpreting the Divine Face as
dominion or sovereignty (mulk)
in the verse "Everything
will perish save His countenance"
(28:88) in the book of Tafsir in his Sahih:
"Except His wajh
means except His mulk,
and it is also said: Except whatever was for the sake of His
countenance." Albani blurts out: "No true believer would
say such a thing" and "We should consider al-Bukhari
innocent of that statement."3
19- In imitation of
the Mu`tazila, tawassul
(seeking means), istighâtha
(asking for help), and tashaffu`
(seeking intercession) through the Prophet - Allah bless and greet
him - or one of the Awliyâ' he declared prohibited acts in Islam
(harâm)
tantamount to idolatry (shirk)
in his booklet al-Tawassul
as did his friends Bin Baz and those who obey them such as al-Qahtani
in al-Wala'
wa al-Bara'
and others, in flat rejection of the numerous sound and explicit
narrations to that effect, such as al-Bukhari's narration of the
Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - from Ibn `Umar - Allah be
well-pleased with him -: "Truly the sun shall draw so near on
the Day of Resurrection that sweat shall reach to the mid-ear,
whereupon they shall ask (istaghâthû)
help from Adam - upon him peace -, then from Musa - upon him peace -
, then from Muhammad - Allah bless and greet him - who will intercede
(fa
yashfa`u)...
and that day Allah shall raise him to an Exalted Station, so that all
those who are standing [including the unbelievers] shall glorify him
(yahmaduhu
ahlu al-jam`i kulluhum)."
20- He denies that
the name of the Angel of death is `Azrâ'îl and claims such a name
has no basis other than Israelite reports, although `Iyad reports the
Consensus on the Umma on it in al-Shifa'.
21- Like the rest of
Wahhabi and "Salafi" innovators he declares Ash`aris,
Maturidis, and Sufis to be outside the fold of Ahl
al-Sunna
and even outside the fold of Islam, although Allah Most High and His
Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - praised them! Upon revelation
of the verse
"Allah shall bring a people whom He loves and who love Him"
(5:54),
the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - pointed to Abu Musa
al-Ash`ari - Allah be well-pleased with him - and said: "They
are that man's People."4 Al-Qushayri, Ibn `Asakir, al-Bayhaqi,
Ibn al-Subki, and others said that the followers of Abu al-Hasan
al-Ash`ari - i.e. Ash`aris who were mostly Sufis - are included among
Abu Musa's People for in every place that a people are affiliated to
a Prophet, what is meant is the followers of that Prophet.
As for Maturidis,
they are referred to in the narration of the Prophet - Allah bless
and greet him - from Bishr al-Khath`ami or al-Ghanawi with a sound
(sahîh)
chain according to al-Hakim, al-Dhahabi, al-Suyuti, and al-Haythami:
"Truly you shall conquer Constantinople and truly what a
wonderful leader will her leader be [Mehmet Fatih Sultan - Allah be
well-pleased with him -], and truly what a wonderful army will that
army be!" Both the leader and his army were classic Hanafi
Maturidis and it is known that Mehmet Fatih loved and respected
Sufis, practiced tawassul,
and followed a Shaykh. Moreover, enmity against Ash`aris, Maturidis,
and Sufis, is nifâq
and enmity against the Umma of Islam as most of the Ulema of Islam
are thus described.
22- In at least five
of his books5
he
calls for the demolition of the Green Dome of the Prophet's Mosque in
al-Madina al-Munawwara and for taking the Prophet's grave outside the
Mosque.
23- He states: "I
have found no evidence for the Prophet's - Allah bless and greet him
- hearing of the salaam of those who greet him at his grave" and
"I do not know from where Ibn Taymiyya took his claim6
that
he - Allah bless and greet him - hears the salaam from someone near."
This and the previous item are among his greater enormities and bear
the unmistakable signature of innovation and deviation.7<
24- He considers it
an innovation to visit relatives, neighbors, or friends on the day of
`Eid and prohibits it.8
25- He gave the
fatwa that Muslims should exit Palestine en masse and leave it to the
Jews as it is part the Abode of War (dâr
al-harb).9
26- He advocates in
his Salat al-Nabi - Allah bless and greet him -, the formula "Peace
and blessings upon the Prophet" instead of "upon you, O
Prophet" in the tashahhud
in contradiction of the Four Sunni Schools, on the basis of a hadith
of Ibn Mas`ud whereby the Companions used the indirect-speech formula
after the passing of the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him -. But
the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - himself instructed them to
pray exactly as he prayed saying: "Peace and blessings upon you,
O Prophet" without telling them to change it after his death,
nor did the major Companions (whose Sunna we were ordered to imitate
together with that of the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him -),
such as Abu Bakr and `Umar, teach the Companions and Successors
otherwise!
27- He prohibits
praying more than 11 rak`as in Tarawih prayers on the grounds that
the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - never did and in blatant
rejection of his explicit command to follow the Sunna of the
well-guided Caliphs after him.
28- He declares that
adding more to 11 supererogatory rak`as in the late night prayer
(tahajjud)
is an innovation rather than an act of obedience on the grounds that
the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - "never ever prayed one
hundred rak`as in his whole lifetime"10
although
the Ulema agree that there is no prescribed limit to something which
the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - commanded without
specifically quantifying it, and he - Allah bless and greet him -
said in three authentic narrations: "Know that the best of your
good deeds is prayer,"11
"Prayer
is a light,"12
and
"The night prayer is in cycles of two [rak`as] and when one of
you fears the rising of the dawn, let him pray a single one."13
It
is also established in many authentic narrations collected by Imam
`Abd al-Hayy al-Lacknawi in the second part of his Iqamat
al-Hujja `ala anna al-Ikthar min al-Ta`abbudi Laysa bi Bid`a
that the Companions and Salaf prayed hundreds if not thousands of
rak`as in every twenty-four hours!
29- He considers it
an innovation to pray four rak`as between the two adhâns of Jumu`a
and before Salat, although it is authentically narrated that "the
Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - prayed four rak`as before
Jumu`a and four rak`as after it."14
30- He declares it
prohibited (harâm)
and an innovation to lengthen the beard over a fistful's length
although there is no proof for such a claim in the whole Law and none
of the Ulema ever said it before him.15
31- He gives free
rein to his propensity to insult and vilify the Ulema of the past as
well as his contemporaries. As a result it is difficult to wade
through his writings without being affected by the nefarious spirit
that permeates them. For example, he considers previous editors and
commentators of al-Bukhari's al-Adab
al-Mufrad
("Book of Manners"!) "sinful," "unbearably
ignorant," and even "liars" and "thieves."
Of one he says: "There are so many weak hadiths [in his
choice]... that it is an unislamic practice"; of another: "It
is ignorance which must not be tolerated"; of another: "Forgery
and open lie... His edition is stolen [from a previous one]."16
Such
examples actually fill a book compiled by Shaykh Hasan `Ali al-Saqqaf
and titled Qamus
Shata'im al-Albani wa Alfazihi al-Munkara al-Lati Yatluquha `ala
`Ulama' al-Umma
("Dictionary of al-Albani's Insults and the Heinous Words He
Uses Against the Scholars of the Muslim Community").
32- He revived Ibn
Hazm's anti-madhhabî claim that differences can never be a mercy in
any case but are always a curse on the basis of the verse (If it had
been from other than Allah they would have found therein much
discrepancy( (4:82).17
Imam
al-Nawawi long since refuted this view in his commentary on Sahih
Muslim where he said: "If something is a mercy, it is not
necessary for its opposite to be the opposite of mercy. No-one makes
this binding and no-one even says this, except an ignoramus or one
who affects ignorance." Similarly, al-Munawi said in Fayd
al-Qadir: "This is a contrivance that showed up on the part of
some of those who have sickness in their heart."
33- He expresses
hatred for those who read Imam al-Busiri's masterpiece, Qasidat
al-Burda,
and calls them cretins (mahâbîl),18
i.e.
millions of Muslims past and present including the likes of Imams Ibn
Hajar al-`Asqalani, al-Sakhawi, and al-Suyuti who all included it as
required reading in the Islamic curriculum.19
34- He perpetuates
lies if they detract from Ash`aris, such as his remark that Imam Sayf
al-Din al-Amidi did not pray,20
although
Dr. Hasan al-Shafi`i in his massive biography entitled al-Amidi
wa Ara'uhu al-Kalamiyya
showed that the story that al-Amidi did not pray was a forgery put
into circulation during the campaign waged by Imam Ibn al-Salah
against him for teaching logic and philosophy in Damascus.
35- He perpetuates
the false claim first made by Munir Agha the founder of the Egyptian
Salafiyya Press, that Imam Abu Muhammad al-Juwayni - the father of
Imam al-Haramayn - "repented" from Ash`ari doctrine and
supposedly authored a tract titled Risala
fi Ithbat al-Istiwâ' wa al-Fawqiyya
("Epistle on the Assertion of Establishment and Aboveness").21
This
spurious attribution continues to be promoted without verification -
for obvious reasons - by modern-day "Salafis" who adduce it
to forward the claim that al-Juwayni embraced anthropomorphist
concepts. The Risala in question is not mentioned in any of the
bibliographical and biographical sources nor does al-Dhahabi cite it
in his encyclopedia of anthropomorphist views entitled al-`Uluw. More
conclusively, it is written in modern argumentative style and
reflects typically contemporary anthropomorphist obsessions.
36- He derides the
fuqahâ'
of the Umma for accepting - in their massive majority - the hadith of
Mu`adh ibn Jabal on ijtihâd
as authentic then rejects the definition of knowledge (`ilm)
in Islam as pertaining to fiqh but claims that it pertains only to
hadith,22
although
the Ulema of the Salaf explicitly said that a hadith master without
fiqh is a misguided innovator! And he defines the `âlim as "meaning,
of course, the `Salafi' `âlim, not the `Khalafi [late Egyptian
Shaykh] Ghazali'!"23
Al-Qurtubi
said: "One of the knowers of Allah said: A certain group that
has not yet come up in our time but shall show up at the end of time,
will curse the scholars and insult the jurists."24
1In his commentary
on al-Mundhiri's Mukhtasar
Sahih Muslim,
3rd ed. (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1977, p. 548). This phrase was
removed from later editions.
2Fatawa (p. 522-523)
and Mukhtasar
al-`Uluw
(p. 23f.).
3Fatawa (p. 523).
4Narrated from `Iyad
by Ibn Abi Shayba and al-Hakim who said it is sahîh
by Muslim's criterion, and by al-Tabarani with a sound chain as
stated by al-Haythami.
5Ahkam al-Jana'iz
wa Bida`uha, Talkhis Ahkam al-Jana'iz, Tahdhir al-Sajid, Hijjat
al-Nabi,
and Manasik
al-Hajj wa al-`Umra.
6In Majmu`a
al-Fatawa
(27:384).
7In his notes on
Nu`man
al-Alusi's al-Ayat al-Bayyinat
(p. 80) and his
Silsila Da`ifa
(#203).
8Fatawa
(p. 61-63).
9 Fatawa
(p. 18).
10 Fatawa
(p. 315-316).
11Narrated as part
of a longer hadith from Thawban with sound chains by Ibn Majah and
Ahmad. Malik cites it in his Muwatta'.
12Part of a longer
hadith narrated from Abu Malik al-Ash`ari (Ka`b ibn `Asim) by Muslim,
al-Tirmidhi (hasan
sahîh),
al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Ahmad, and al-Darimi.
13Narrated from Ibn
`Umar in the Nine Books.
14With a fair chain
from `Ali and Ibn `Abbas as stated by al-`Iraqi in Tarh
al-Tathrib
(3:42), Ibn Hajar in Talkhis
al-Habir
(2:74), and al-Tahanawi in I`la'
al-Sunan
(7:9).
15 Fatawa
(p. 53).
16 Sahih
al-Adab al-Mufrad
(Introduction, p. 15, 20, 26).
17 Al-Silsila
al-Da`ifa
(1:76 #57).
18Introduction to
al-San`ani's Raf`
al-Astar
(p. 24-25).
19Cf. al-Suyuti,
Husn
al-Muhadara
(Cairo 1293 ed. 1:260) and al-Sakhawi, in A.J. Arberry, Sakhawiana: A
Study Based on the Chester Beatty Ms. Arab. 773 (London: Emery Walker
Ltd., 1951, p. 5-9).
20In his notes to
Nu`man al-Alusi's al-Ayat
al-Bayyinat
(p. 88).
21 Mukhtasar
al-`Uluw
(p. 277).
22In his notes on
al-Qasimi's al-Mash
`ala al-Jawrabayn
(p. 38). On the hadith of Mu`adh see our May 1999 post titled, "[4]
Probativeness of the Sunna" and Note 5 in that post.
23 Tahrim
Alat al-Tarab
(p. 160).
24Al-Qurtubi, Tafsir
(7:191).
